On 8 April, a ‘bride kidnapping’ attempt took place in the village of Kantyshevo in Ingushetia. A man from Nazran named Yevloyev, together with eight unidentified accomplices, entered the property of the Palankoyev family and abducted a young woman. When the woman’s mother and brother attempted to prevent the kidnapping, they were beaten and the brother was stabbed. Both required medical attention.

Palankoyeva had already been abducted twice by the same man; the first time in October 2016, and then again in March 2017.

Upon learning of the incident, the head of Ingushetia, Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, summoned an emergency meeting with law enforcement agencies and demanded that they take measures to free the abducted woman and punish the kidnappers as soon as possible.

Yevkurov expressed indignation at the rash acts of the young man, whose actions could possibly have led to a clash between two taipas (clans). He also criticised the police’s inaction.

‘Why isn’t there a mention of people breaking into someone else’s house and kidnapping a woman while inflicting injuries on her relatives in any police report?’ Yevkurov said.

Yevkurov also instructed Ingushetia’s minister of internal affairs, Yury Muravyev, to conduct an internal investigation regarding the actions of the police, who have been unable to detain the kidnappers.

‘I demand that all measures to detain them be taken, within the framework of the law’, Yevkurov said.

He also noted that ‘bride kidnapping’ contradicts the norms of Islam as well as Ingush traditions.